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(Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 05--Total Wine & More, the Maryland-based wine, beer and spirits retailer that's brought its superstore concept to Minnesota, has one store open in Roseville, has secured approvals for stores in Burnsville and Woodbury, and is seeking City Council clearance to open a Bloomington store.

The company's superstore format faces some local opposition, but it's part of a national trend in which liquor superstores have grown 15 percent in the past five years.

Beau Farrell, vice president of Internet sales at Haskell's, which has 13 traditionally sized stores in Minnesota and has opened a 20,000-square-foot superstore in Maple Grove, confirmed to the Star Tribune in a recent article that larger stores are the trend.

"Those stores have seen success," he said. "Bigger is better."
Enventis deal doesn't hurt Consolidated's Credit rating
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's Ratings Service had a "B+" corporate credit rating and a stable outlook on Consolidated Communications Inc. of Mattoon, Ill., before the telecom provider announced that it would acquire Mankato-based Enventis for $350 million.

"In our view, the transaction modestly improves leverage and provides the company some geographic diversity by extending its operations to five new markets," she wrote.

She added that the acquisition does little to change Consolidated's revenue mix and they'll still face competition from customers willing to cut the cord and go wireless. "We therefore have not altered our business risk view."
Patrick Kennedy
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